Investor Connect Podcast

On this episode of Investor Connect, Hall welcomes Robert Toker, Chairman, and CEO at Lantha Sensors. Founded in 2019 by a team of world-class business people, scientists and technologists, Lantha Sensors offers an alternative to high-cost, slow trace chemical analysis such as NMR and Karl Fischer titrations. They offer a range of portable, durable, and inexpensive chemical sensors that give accur...

Start With Your Key Metric Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. There are many metrics you can use to guide your startup. In the growth stage, start with your key metric that captures what drives growth. You can either focus on the total number of users or look at the total number of actions the user takes. Look for th...

On this episode of Investor Connect, Hall welcomes Ander Iruretagoyena, Senior Associate at Impact Engine. Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, Impact Engine is a women-owned and led venture capital and private equity firm investing in companies driving positive impact in education, economic empowerment, health, and environmental sustainability. Impact Engine was launched in 2012 as an accelerator...

Unit Economics Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In the early days of a startup, the revenue is small. Instead of focusing on the absolute size of the revenue, focus on the unit economics of the business. Unit economics shows your business model on a per-unit basis. Measure the cost of acquiring each customer and th...

This is Investor Perspectives. I'm the host of Investor Connect, Hall T. Martin, where we connect startups and investors for funding. In our new Investor Perspectives series entitled "Faith-Based Investing in a Post-COVID World", you'll hear about participation and growth in faith-based investing. As the COVID pandemic passes, we emerge into a new era. The faith-based investing space is now underg...

Pre-seed Metrics Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. At the pre-seed stage, startups should focus their attention on engagement and referrals. Track how many visitors you can draw to your website. See how many of those visitors sign up for a trial. The conversion rate is more important than the absolute number. See ho...

Metrics by Stage of Startup Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Startups move through stages from pre-seed to seed to growth to scale. The metrics you apply should adjust to the stage of the company. Here's a list of metrics by stage: Pre-seed - when you have an idea, use qualitative metrics and focus on basic activit...

On this episode of Investor Connect, Hall welcomes Prem Bodagala, Director at Michigan Rise. Michigan Rise is an early-stage focused venture capital fund investing in high-tech startups across Michigan. The fund is backed by the Michigan Strategic Fund and Michigan State University Foundation and is one of the most active early-stage investors in the Midwest with investments in 34 portfolio compan...

On this episode of Investor Connect, Hall welcomes Peter Storment, Co-CEO at Cedar Street Capital. Cedar Street Capital provides top-tier services to companies seeking growth capital and/or merger and acquisition services. They also assist institutional private equity investors in identifying, assessing, and closing prospective investments. Cedar focuses across industries in emerging and frontier...

Metrics by Stage of Life Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Startups go through three stages of life: product, growth, and operations. In the first stage, the startup focuses on the product. The objective is to find product-market fit with the focus entirely on the product and its use by the customer. Key metrics inc...

On this episode of Investor Connect, Hall welcomes Gurdeep Prewal, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Rocana Venture Partners. Rocana Venture Partners is an LA-based venture capital firm that invests in early-stage consumer packaged goods brands. They find truly disruptive, hyper-growth, mission-driven brands that provide consumers with better living choices. Their primary area of focus is in food...

Metrics by Startup Objective Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. A startup's objective changes as it moves from early to later stages. Here's a list of metrics by stage objective: In the earliest stages of the startup, look for conversions. Basic validation is important to prove the market wants the product. This exer...

On this episode of Investor Connect, Hall welcomes Craig Martin, Founder, and President at The Family Wealth Consulting Group. The Family Wealth Consulting Group is a family-owned and operated fee-only financial planning firm that has been a fiduciary with clients in Silicon Valley, California, for over 35 years. This family-centric team focuses on helping families maximize financial resources for...

3X in 3 Terms Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. I analyzed the results of several angel networks and found that 65% of the investments after three years were still in business but were no longer on the venture track. In most cases, they were growing businesses but were not going to be bought out for a significant re...

On this episode of Investor Connect, Hall welcomes Maan Hamdan, Managing Director at Hexa Ventures. HEXA provides its portfolio partner companies with a scope of services that support the entrepreneur and help to accelerate the growth of their early-stage investments, while at the same time, de-risking the investments made and increasing the return on investment. The goal is to match the needs of...

Startup Success Rates Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. The early-stage failure rate of startups is quite high. Out of 100 startups, only 40% go to the next level at Series A. Only 22% of startups reach Series B. Only 15% of startups reach Series C. Only 8% of startups reach Series D. As for the success rate, only 9...

Thank you for joining us today for our TEN Capital Fundraise Launch Program. In this program, we help startups prepare for a fundraise. We provide templates, tools, eGuides, and advice to founders who are working towards raising funding. We'll kick off the session with a short overview on a fundraising topic, then we'll answer questions from the founders. I hope you enjoy this episode. ___________...

Payback Plans Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. Not every funded startup continues on the venture path to a high payoff from the sale of the business. For those startups, investors using an early-exit term sheet can find a path out of the deal. There are several options for the startup to pay back the investors. The...

On this episode of Investor Connect, Hall welcomes Kate Mitselmakher, CEO and General Partner at Bloccelerate VC.Bloccelerate VC is a platform for blockchain products and services to actualize their true potential, providing them with world-class mentoring, go-to-market solutions, access to peers, developers pool, academic evaluation and research, access to markets, regulatory compliance, and fund...

Redemption Strategies Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In an early-exit term sheet, the investors have the right to redeem their stake in the company before an acquisition. There are several redemption exercise strategies. The first strategy is to recover the principal investment. This makes the investor whole and...

This is Investor Perspectives. I'm the host of Investor Connect, Hall T. Martin, where we connect startups and investors for funding. In our final Investor Perspectives episode on Impact Investing in a Post-COVID World, you'll hear about changes expected in the coming 12 months and our guests' final thoughts. As the COVID pandemic passes, we emerge into a new era. The impact space is now undergoin...

Key to Facilitation Is Operational Involvement Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In managing an early exit term sheet, it's important to facilitate the ongoing information rights due to the investors. Most term sheets provide rights to the company's financial statements, including the income statement and balance sh...

On this episode of Investor Connect, Hall welcomes Mark H. Goldstein, Managing Partner at Advisors. Fund LLC.Advisors. Fund LLC invests in hyper-focused entrepreneurs that are disrupting entrenched legacy incumbents and an accepted status quo. They love the entrepreneur that is "all in", knows the business that he or she wants to break, and can surf and grow through a few pivots. To date, they hav...

Redemption Facilitation Process Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In an early-exit term sheet, it's important to have a redemption facilitation process. This includes the steps for setting up the bank accounts, capturing the investor's interest, providing payouts, and investor updates. The process also tracks escrow...

On this episode of Investor Connect, Hall welcomes Seren Rumjancevs, CEO, and Rain Kivisik, Founder at Dealum. Dealum provides a superior investor group collaboration platform to build a vibrant early-stage investing ecosystem. Their objective is to become the leading global deal-flow source for early-stage investors by creating meaningful connections between investors and startups. Seren has been...